Putin: Believe me, we are all powerless before truth and justice

"We are not planning to occupy Ukraine, we have no such goal," Putin said, calling the large-scale military aggression launched on 24 February a special operation.

The president of the occupying country says the purpose of this "special operation" is to "protect" the people of Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin also claims that the "special operation" devised by his General Staff was justified.

"On February 24, I gave the reason why we launched the operation in Ukraine. It was aimed at protecting the people of Donbas, who have suffered eight years as a result of Nazi aggression. From the very beginning we offered the Ukrainian government to withdraw its troops from Donbas and avoid bloodshed, but they refused. The actions of the Nazis were beyond cynicism. Believe me, we are all powerless before truth and justice. Russia will share its position with the world. Russian troops in various cities of Ukraine, as well as in the vicinity of Kiev, do not mean that we are planning to occupy Ukraine. We have no such goal. I have said this explicitly many times. As for the tactics and strategy developed by our General Staff, they have achieved expected results," Putin said.